Supernatural Worldview of the Bible

Work of Jesus & the New Testament

The Ministry of Jesus

Inaugura3ng the kingdom,Making fools of the dark powers

Inauguration of KingdomAccompanied by:

� Expulsion of demons� Cp. Ma= 8:28-9:1 vs. Mark 5:7-13; Luke 8:26-33

�Sending of the 70/72

� Satan “falls like lightning from heaven” (Luke 10:18; cf. dragon cast down Rev 12)

God’s leading of Moses and Joshua; initial stage of taking the land

Deut 2-3

Bashan� In Canaanite, bathan (“serpent”)�Moses and Joshua�Ashtaroth and Edrei = “gateways to the

Underworld” in Ugari@c texts�Temple to Baal �Baal = lord of the Underworld in Canaanite�Beelzebul is from Ugari@c ba’al zebul

(“prince Baal”)

Jesus & Cosmic Geography

Caesarea Philippi / Banias / Panias

� Mark 8:27-30 (MaB 16:13-16; Lk 9:18-20)

�Peter’s Confession (”And Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi”)

Jesus & Cosmic Geography“Gates of Hell”

�You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hellshall not be able to stand against it.

Jesus & Cosmic Geography

“against” not in original text (just verb + object);

be@er: “the gates of hell will not withstand it”

Jesus & Cosmic Geography

� Mark 9:2-13 (Matt 17:1-8; Luke 9:28-36)

�“And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain”

Jesus & Cosmic GeographyTransfiguration

� In early church tradition, the location of the mount of transfiguration was believed by many to be Mount Tabor.

�The earliest witness to this tradition is the 4th

century A.D. �The gospels themselves give no name, and so

the tradition has no biblical precedent.

Jesus & Cosmic Geography

Mount Hermon is considered by many the be9er choice since it is much higher than Tabor (8,500 feet vs. 1,843 feet), which would fit be9er with the descripJon of a “high mountain” by Mark (and in Ma9hew 17:1).

� Avraham Negev, The Archaeological Encyclopedia of the Holy Land (3rd ed.; New York: Pren8ce Hall Press, 1996, c1990); “Tabor, Mount (Place),” ABD, 305.

� Jesus and His World: An Archaeological and Cultural Dic=onary; John J. Rousseau and Rami Arav (Fortress, 1995), 209-210

Jesus & Cosmic Geography

Why did Jesus go to these places, do what

he did, say what he said?

Mark 8:31 And he began to teach them that

the Son of Man must suffer many things and be

rejected by the elders and the chief priests and

the scribes and be killed, and aGer three days

rise again. 32 And he said this plainly. . .

�See 1 Cor 2:6-8

Book of Acts

Restoring the One family of God;Reclaiming the nations

Acts - Cosmic Geography

Acts - Cosmic Geography� Acts 2 – Pentecost

Acts - Cosmic Geography� Acts 2 – Pentecost

Acts - Cosmic Geography� Acts 2 – Pentecost

NT Cosmic Geography: Acts 2

The Disinherited Nations (Gen 10)

NT Cosmic Geography

� Acts 2 – Pentecost

� Jerusalem > Judea > (Acts 2-8)

� Samaria (Acts 8)

� Ethiopian Eunuch (Acts 8)

� Saul’s conversion (Acts 9) / Paul

� GenGles / NaGons (cp. Isa 66)

�Damascus (Acts 9)

�Cornelius (Acts 10)

�Missionary journeys to the naGons (Acts 11-19)

�Acts 20 – Paul’s arrest > Rome > Spain

Paul - Cosmic Geography

Rom 15:20 and thus I make it my ambi@on to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else’s founda@on . . . 23 But now, since I no longer have any room for work in these regions, and since I have longed for many years to come to you, 24 I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain . . . 28 When therefore I have completed this and have delivered to them what has been collected, I will leave for Spain by way of you.

The Disinherited Na.ons (Gen 10)

Paul – Cosmic Geography

� “rulers” (archontōn or archōn)� “principali9es” (archē)� “powers” / “authori9es” (exousia)� “powers” (dynamis)� “dominions” / “lords” (kyrios)� “thrones” (thronos)� “world rulers” (kosmokratōr)

Epistles & Revelation

God’s glorified human familyRuling with Jesus, their brother

Believer’s Des+ny – Cosmic Geography

Believers are Sons and Daughters of God

� Edenic Vision Restored� Divine Council Reconstituted

Sons and Daughters of God� John 1:12�1 John 3:1-3�Gal 3:26�Rom 8:14-17�Heb 2:10-13

Over the NationsRevela0on 2 [Jesus says]:25 Nevertheless, hold fast to what you have un0l I come. 26 And the one who conquers and who keeps my works un0l the end, I will give him authority over the na0ons, 27 and “he will shepherd them with an iron rod; he will break them in pieces like jars made of clay,” 28 as I also have received from my Father, and I will give him the morning star.

Over the Nations

The morning star language in Rev. 2:28 is messianic—it refers to a divine being who would come from Judah. We know this by considering two other passages in tandem. � In Num. 24:17, we read the prophecy that

“a star will go out from Jacob, and a scepter will rise from Israel.”

Over the Na*ons

Later in the book of Revelation, Jesus himself refers to his messianic standing with the morning star language:

“I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star” (Rev. 22:16).

Over the Na*ons

Revela*on 3 [Jesus says]:20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock! If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, indeed I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with me. 21 The one who conquers, I will grant to him to sit down with me on my throne, as I also have conquered and have sat down with my Father on his throne.

YHWH /Godhead

sons of God

angels (messengers)

1 Cor 6:2-3Do you not know that the holy ones will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? Do you not know that we are to judge angels?

Spiritual Warfare?

It’s not a mystery

Spiritual Warfare

Resurrec0on and ascension:

� sets the stage for the coming of the Spirit (“the Lord, who is the Spirit”); 2 Cor 3:17-18

� nullifies the authority of the gods of the na0ons (“principali0es, powers, rulers, authori0es, etc.)� 1 Cor 15:20-24; Col 2:13-15; 1 Pet 3:18-22;

Rom 15:8-12 (cp. Psa 82:8, LXX); NBP 232

Spiritual Warfare

�We aren’t tasked with confron6ng demons or powers; Jesus gave us one job …

Great Commission � MaB 28:18-20 (don’t skip v. 18)� The thing the powers of darkness fear the

most (Rom 11:25-27)

Spiritual Warfare

= the advance of the kingdom of God (reclaiming the na9ons / bringing God’s children back home)� US popula9on: 326 million

� Evangelicals: 25.4% US (2014) = 81.63 million� Let’s trim that to 40 million

� World popula9on 2018: 7.6 billion

� Es9mated to reach 9.7 billion by 2050

Spiritual Warfare = Great Commission

40 million evangelize 1 person each in 2019 = 80 million (or apply to discipleship)They all do the same in 2020 = 160 million

Same in 2021 = 320 million2022 = 640 million2023 = 1.2 billion2024 = 2.4 billion2025 = 4.8 billion2026 = 9.6 billion 2027 (23 yrs early) 10 billion+

Why WOULDN’T it get done?Loss of sense of IDENTITYLoss of sense of MISSION

� Distrac>ons (worldliness)� Human opposi>on (prompted by)� Spiritual opposi>on